One of the Boys
by awkwardegleekell
Summary: AU: She's just a girl that's tired of being seen as the "little sister" or one of the guys. This is the story of a girl on the path to self discovery. one shot, finchel,


**A/N: Cory, this is for you. Thank you for changing my life.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own glee or the song one of the boys by Katy Perry**

-:-

one of the boys - a glee fanfiction

-:-

_one: I saw a spider, I didn't scream_

_-:-_

He's hoping that the new neighbours are cool. It'd be cool to have a new buddy, because even though he and Puck bonded over not having a dad, an eight year old kid could always need a new buddy.

Also, his mom says that they have a kid _his_ age. Where he lives, it's mostly kids way older than him or way younger than him.

Through the window, he sees a black car pull up to the house next door. A tall African American man steps out of the driver's side of the car, while a shorter Jewish man exits from the passenger side. While the former takes their bags out of the car, the latter opens the back seat door for a small girl around his age.

She's got long brown hair that's French braided and arranged in pigtails. But _she_ is a _girl_. Girls are no fun. They always want to play with dolls and play dress up. She'll probably end up playing with Santana and Quinn, who live on Baker Street.

"Mom! The new neighbours are here!" Finn shouts to his mom, who is in the kitchen making cookies.

_Mm mm. Cookies. I wonder if Mom will let me have any. _As if on cue, his mother walks past him, holding a plate of her _awesome_ cookies. He reaches his hand out to take one, but his mom slaps his hand away.

"Finn, these are for the Berry's next door. If you wanted some, then you should have helped me make them when I asked you to."

He pouts at his mom, knowing that she can't resist the puppy dog eyes.

"Finn." She looks at him sternly and he knows that he's lost.

"Fine, Mom." He grumbles. Once she leaves with the cookies, he moves back to his position at the window. The girl isn't at the car anymore. He can't see her anywhere.

_She must be already playing with Quinn and Santana already. _A face pops out from his window and scares the living heck out of him. He screams and falls off the chair that he was sitting in.

He looks back up at the window. It's _her_. The girl from next door. She seems sorry that she scared him. She was pointing in the direction of his front door.

Grumbling, he gets up from the floor and opens the door to reveal a girl around his height, wearing jean overalls with ripped knees. The shirt that she wears under her overalls is a light blue and covered in paint stains and patterned with gold stars and music notes.

"Hi! I'm Rachel Berry!" she says in a chirpy tone, thrusting her hand forward for him to shake.

"Finn Hudson." He replies, shaking her hand.

"Hudson! Girls have cooties. Look at her!" a voice shouts.

He looks around Rachel to see Puck walk up to them, before he picks up one of Rachel's pigtails and tugs on them.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" She shouts in protest, glaring at Puck.

"See, Hudson? She's just another one of those annoying, prissy girls that have cooLet's roll." Puck announces, leading Finn to their tree house.

But before Finn leaves, he looks at Rachel and says, "You seem cool."

Then he leaves and follows Puck to their tree house that lies in the joint backyard of the Hudson's and Berry's.

-:-

She's mad. How dare that stupid haired idiot call _her _a prissy? She's not a prissy. She'll show him. Both of them.

She's not your average girl. She hates ruffles and she's rather boil her Super Mario action figures than play with the Barbies that her aunt always sends her. She loves the colour green and hates pink with a fiery passion.

Before she got to the house, she passed by Baker Street where she saw a raven-haired girl playing Barbie dress up with a blonde. Her dads asked if she wanted to play with them, but she said that she's rather stick pins in her eyes.

So when that skunk said that _she_ was a prissy. Oh, he'll get it.

She stalks over to her house where something catches her eye. It was perfect.

She runs into her house before picking up a jar, and returning back outside.

She catches it. It's perfect. Inside the jar, a big, brown spider is trying to escape.

"Oh!" she hurries inside and makes small pricks on the lid.

"There, little fellow, now you can breathe."

Now where did they go? She sees a tree sitting in the corner of her new backyard. Half on the Hudson's yard and half on hers. Inside, she can see two boys.

When she bears the tree, she can hear music blasting from inside. She guesses that they probably wouldn't be able to hear her.

Tucking the jar under one arm, she slowly moves up the tree. When she gets up there, Finn spots her immediately. She puts a finger to her lips, signalling him to be quiet. She slowly approaches the skunk from behind, before quickly uncapping the jar and holding it upside down from his head.

A huge spider falls from the jar, relishing its freedom before falling into the skunk's hair.

-:-

He called the girl a prissy because all girls are prissies. She deserved it. That's what he gets for living near Santana and Quinn. They are so boring. All they ever play with are Barbies.

That girl was somewhat prissy but she was somewhat different.

Not that he'd apologize.

After moving up into the tree house, he and Finn started to listen to his new cd.

All of a sudden he feels movement above his head. No, _on _his head.

A huge brown spider crawls down onto his nose, before he starts screaming.

-:-

Puck's screaming like a little girl. It's hilarious. He sees Rachel move to flick the spider from his nose.

Puck glares at Rachel before grinning.

"I like your style. I'm Puck." he says, smoothly.

"Rachel." she replies after looking at Finn.

He can tell that he, Puck, and Rachel are going to be really good friends.

Rachel already seemed like one of the boys.

-:-

two:

_'Cause I can belch the alphabet_

_Just double dog dare me_

-:-

They're sitting in a booth at the local diner. Doing what normal eleven year olds do. They're drinking thick chocolate milkshakes, while chowing down on bacon cheeseburgers. Well, for the guys. Rachel may be a tomboy, but she still believes that animals are people too.

"How can you eat that garbage vegetarian crap, Rach?" Puck comments, his mouth full of greasy bacon.

She wrinkles her nose at him, looking at his mouth in disgust.

"Bet you can't even get a good burp with that burger." Puck dared Rachel.

Rachel looked at him, raising her eyebrows, "Is that a challenge, Puck?

Finn looked at his two best friends, intrigued. He watches as Rachel puts a five dollar bill on the table and forces Puck to do the same.

She opens her mouth and belches a loud note. Puck stares at her in amazement, before finally clapping.

"I'm proud of you, young grasshopper." He says, patting her head like a little dog.

She glares at him and smacks the back of his head.

"Stop distracting me from the point. Where's my money?!" She says, putting her hand out in front of him, palm up.

He grumbles and puts the ten dollars in her head.

Finn smirks at Puck. Puck glares at him and gives him the finger.

Puck looks back at Rachel. He smirks, a plan forming in his head.

"I bet that you can't burp the alphabet. I dare you. Loser pays for lunch."

Rachel widens her eyes. It's common knowledge to her and Finn that only Puck can do it.

Finn gives her this look, as if he was warning her not to take it.

Rachel, never one to turn down a challenge looks at Puck coolly.

"You're on. Just let me use the john before I go." she says, walking away in the direction of the bathroom.

Once she was out of sight, and earshot, Finn turned his entire body to face Puck.

"You can't do that, man! She can't do it. _You _of all people should know that. You were saying just _yesterday_ that she wasn't ready for that step."

"Dude. I need the money. This should be easy."

Puck watched as Rachel strolled over to the booth. She sat down in front of them.

"Game on."

They put their hands in the middle, and shook on it.

Rachel smirked because she knew something that they didn't.

_She'd been practicing for months. She's practically mastered the art of burping._

Later, once Puck had paid for their lunch, he left on his bike, claiming that his mom wanted him home.

Finn and Rachel then walked back to their houses together.

-:-

three:

_And I chose guitar over ballet_

_And I take these suckers down_

_'Cause they just get in my way_

-:-

She's tired of ballet. Sure, she loves Broadway and musicals, but that's her guilty pleasure. She hasn't even told Finn and Puck. Puck would tell Finn that she really was a prissy.

Ballet just makes her feet hurt and it also makes her want to burn all her leotards and tutus. Plus, Sam's little sister is in her class, and sometimes he comes to the recitals.

What if he tells Puck, or worse Finn?

Even worse, Quinn and Santana are in her class and they always make fun of her "Man Hands".

She groans at the continuous pain in her feet and stretches out her muscles. She picks up her guitar and starts to strum the strings.

She's in the process of writing a song, and not to be bias, but she thinks that it's really good.

"Rachel! Phone! But be short because you have ballet in twenty minutes! she hears her daddy shout from downstairs.

She goes to her blue phone that lies on her bedside table.

She picks up the phone to hear heavy breathing on the other end. Finn. It's got to be him. After all, she's always joked that he sounded like an ox whenever he breathed.

"Hey, Rach!" He says enthusiastically, "Do you wanna come to the soccer field and kick a ball around with me and the guys?"

Rachel bit her lip before answering.

"I would if I could but I have...karate class!" she fibbed, "But maybe if I end early, I could meet you guys later! You know what; I'll just meet up with you at seven, okay?"

"See you then, Rach!" She can practically hear his smile on the other end. That makes her pretty satisfied with herself.

She keeps the grin on her face when she leaves for ballet, and even when Brittany makes fun of her plies, she just keeps smiling.

It isn't until she sees Sam walk through the door with his mom when her smile stops. Sam wasn't supposed to be here. Usually, when he comes, on a Tuesday, she knows to hide her face and avoid him at all costs. He's supposed to be at the soccer field with Finn.

She vaguely remembers something that Sam's little twin sister Sarah was saying to the class.

"My brother has to go to the dentist because somebody pushed him and broke his teeth." Well, and then the girls in the class started to gush about how cute they thought he was but all Rachel was thinking about was how _she _was the one who pushed him down.

It wasn't _really_ her fault but he was going on about how she was a girl and how girls had _cooties._ Like, is he really serious?

Oops. Too late. He's seen her. His eyes widen as he takes in the sight of her in a leotard and she winces. She knew that she should have taken hip-hop, it's more her style.

He smirks at her, but says nothing. She knows that he'll use this as payback for pushing him. She just knows things like this.

-:-

Finn looked around the soccer field. Rachel was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. But then again, she's just like him. Unless it's food, he's late.

When he first saw a car pull up at the side of the field, of course he had thought that it was Rachel, but under further inspection, it wasn't the Berry's black SUV, it was a red minivan. Sam.

Sam wasn't even supposed to come! Now the teams are going to be uneven, unless Rachel finally shows up.

It isn't that Sam isn't a good soccer player, but he's a ball hog and a terrible kicker. He just keeps the ball the entire time and tries to kick it into the net. Luckily for Finn, Sam's on the other team.

Finn quickly charges for the ball once Sam loses control of the ball, and once he finally takes his shot at the net, he sees a black SUV pull up to the edge of the field, to reveal a brunette girl, around his height wearing all her soccer equipment. He sees her wave goodbye to her papa before she charges on the field.

"Hey guys!" Rachel chirps.

Some guys, like him, Puck, Mike, and Matt are pretty cool with Rachel. She's awesome. Why wouldn't guys like her? But the other half, like Azimio, Karofsky, and Sam are pretty mean to her. They always treat her like a bug. And that makes Finn mad, not because he likes her or anything, but Rachel's like one of the guys.

"So, what team am I on?" Rachel asks Finn.

But before Finn can tell Rachel that she's going to be on his team, Sam interrupts them.

"No! She's not allowed to play. She's a _girl._ Girls can't play sports. That's why they have their own league, because they can't face the _real_ athletes."

"Excuse me, Evans, but I'll have you know that I am an amazing soccer player. I bet I could play better than you."

"Please, a ballerina can beat me?!" Finn notices that Rachel's eyes widen, "What are you going to do to beat me, huh? Dance around me? Oh. I'm _sooooo_ scared." he shoots back, mocking her while making faux scared faces at Rachel.

By now, most of the guys are just laughing at Rachel, but not Finn or Puck, they're mad, they're _furious._

"Hey, you're out of line, Evans." Puck says, jabbing his finger into Sam's chest.

"Yeah, Rachel would never do ballet, she's not like Santana, Quinn, or Brittany. She actually does cool stuff."

"Please, I just saw her at Sarah's ballet class; she was wearing a tutu and all of that other crap. Seems to me that your _ultra-cool best friend_ is _actually_ a prissy."

Before either Puck or Finn can comprehend his words, Rachel launches herself at Sam, clawing him and taking him down. The other boys are useless, either laughing at Sam for being beaten by a girl, or chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" continuously.

-:-

Rachel is fuming. All she can see is red, as she is attacking Sam. How _dare_ he tell everyone that she took ballet?! But then again, she knew that he would use that information against her somehow.

Two sets of hands pull her off that idiot and she's still punching at the air as she's being held back.

"Why would you tell them?!" She screams at Sam.

"Whoa. Wait. So _Sam's _right? You do ballet?" Puck says, his voice cutting the thick tension.

Finn doesn't say anything, opting to look at Rachel, his eyes confused.

"Yes. It's true." She looks at the ground shamefully.

"Told you she was just like the other girls! Let's go." Sam leaves.

Rachel watches as one by one, her friends leave and finally Finn does too.

She runs home crying for the first time ever.

-:-

Finn's climbing up her house to the balcony in her room. It's weird, they've been friends for years, and he's never seen her room. He imagines that it's dark and has band posters on the walls. you know, like _his room._

It's kind of slippery on the side of the house because it was raining yesterday, but he figures that he needs to talk to her.

He's kind of mad, not that she takes ballet, but she kept it from him. They're best friends. They tell each other _everything_. He can tell that Puck is pissed because of that too.

When he reaches the top, he can hear music. It's not like the music on her iPod. It's a guitar, and he can hear a pretty voice singing along softly.

Wait, that's _Rachel's_ voice. _Wow. She has a really pretty voice. _Finn thinks to himself.

He knocks on the balcony door. He hears a girl scream inside but when he opens the door, he sees Rachel, with a baseball bat, aiming it at him.

For an honorary guy, she can be such a girl.

She looks at Finn, her eyebrows raised, before dropping the bat on the floor and flopping back on her bed.

It's now that Finn can finally look around her room. It's not dark, it's yellow, and there's a wall covered in Broadway playbills, and the other wall is covered in gold stars.

The gold stars aren't surprising, that's the only girly aspect about Rachel, but the playbills. he never even knew that Rachel liked Broadway so much. That's another thing she didn't tell him.

There are a few duffel bags on the ground. he recognizes two of them, one is her sports bag, and the other one is the one that she uses when she sleeps over at his house. The last one must be her "karate stuff" which he knows is her ballet bag. How did he know? There's a pink slipper poking out of one of the pockets.

He sighs and sits on her bed, her feet beside him. The bed sinks but Rachel doesn't move from where she is.

"Why didn't you tell us that you were a ballet kid? Puck and I made fun of them so much, and you just turn out to be one of them, and I'm not sure whether to feel bad for making fun of you, or feel mad because you didn't tell us."

Rachel props her body up on her elbows and looks at Finn pointedly.

"I didn't want you guys to know. I was afraid that you guys would just ditch me, and you guys did. All because of that idiot, Sam."

"We would never do that, we're just pissed that you didn't tell us."

"Really?"

"Of course. We're the three amigos. Plus, how the heck does Sam know?"

"His sister's in my class. She's so annoying, all she ever does is talk about nail polish and makeup, plus the class is so boring. All the girls have no idea how to talk about sports and they only knew Shaq because of the _movies_ he was in! It's ridiculous!"

"Maybe you are the Rachel that we know." he jokes, punching her arm playfully.

"Shut up." she smiles at him.

"So what is this?" he says, indicating her wall of playbills.

Rachel's eyes widen once again. She blushes and looks at the ground.

"That" she pauses "Is my guilty pleasure."

He looks at her questionably.

"Broadway?!" He says. I mean, this was _Rachel_. Sometimes she was more of a guy than _he_ was.

"Broadway." she breathes, and that's when he knows. She has stars in her eyes and looking up at the sky. He's not going to question her. She obviously loves Broadway.

She looks at him, a frown on her face. "You aren't going to tell Puck are you?"

"No, this is for me to know and you to tell him."

She groans, falling backwards onto her comforter.

"Last question, why didn't you tell me you played guitar?"

She flips onto her stomach and murmurs a reply into her pillow.

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that." Finn jokes.

She flips back onto her back and looks at the ceiling.

"You heard that." Her voice is almost a whisper. Like she's embarrassed.

"Yeah. You were awesome."

She tucks a piece of hair behind her hair, grinning. She looks at him, her big brown eyes making their way through his heart. _Whoa. Where did _that _come from? _He shakes the thoughts from his head.

"Do you want to hear?" She asks him, nervously. This is weird for Finn, Rachel usually doesn't wear her emotions on her sleeve, but it feels like he's peeling back the layers to reveal a _new_ Rachel. But nevertheless, he knows that in the end, Rachel's still a guy at heart. That's good enough for him.

And he just sits there, listening as Rachel strums the strings on her guitar and softly sings along.

-:-

four:

_The way you look at me is kinda like a little sister_

_Your high five, your goodbyes_

_And it leaves me nothing but blisters_

-:-

It's weird. She _shouldn't _be feeling like this. Yet, she does.

She's watching as Finn puts his arm around this human Barbie doll.

She looks like she doesn't have enough IQ points to string together a sentence. I mean, all she ever does is _giggle_.

She even has a name that brings down IQ points. _Hilary._

What kind of name is that? Yet, she feels something inside her bubble, when she sees Finn so happy with Hilary. She feels forgotten. Like a missing Lego piece that disappeared under the shelf, or a ball that was through so high up that it landed on the roof of a building.

Why? Finn's _just_ her best friend.

That must be it. If Puck had a girlfriend, she would probably feel jealous too. That's because they are her best friends. Nothing more.

There's nothing. There _has_ to be nothing.

She sees Finn approach her, but she contains that feeling in her stomach. They feel like butterflies.

No. He's her _best friend. _But, when he punches her arm, as he leaves, she feels destroyed inside. She doesn't understand why she's upset because he punched her arm. That's what they do. They joke around with each other. This is normal. But why does she feel like she's lying when she says that she's not upset?

She remembers a conversation from when he first met Hilary.

_She was watching as Finn went over to talk to Hilary._

_She could tell that Hilary was somewhat curious about her and Finn from the start. But when Hilary looked over at her when she was talking to Finn, she knew, she just knew that they were talking about her._

_She couldn't really hear their conversation well, but she picked up a few snippets of the talk._

"_So, won't your girlfriend be upset if you hang with me instead of her?"_

"_Girlfriend?"_

"_The short tomboy."_

"_Nah, that's Rachel. She's like my sister."_

"_Good," She said satisfied, before dragging Finn away and leaving Rachel standing alone on the sidewalk._

She struggles to understand the emotions flowing through her body.

Why does she feel butterflies when he looks at her?

Why does her heart beat faster whenever they make eye contact?

Why does she feel so broken up about the fact that he's flirting with Hilary?

She can't possibly like her best friend? Right?

She's determined to get over this.

She puts up a front whenever she sees Finn and Hilary.

She hangs out more with Puck because even though he's a womanizer, he treats her like one of the guys.

And that's all she ever wanted.

But inside, her feeling are building up, and threatening to explode.

And she realizes, maybe being one of the boys, isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

-:-

five:

_So I don't wanna be one of the boys_

_One of your guys_

_Just give me a chance to prove to you tonight_

_That I just wanna be one of the girls_

_Pretty in pearls_

_Not one of the boys_

-:-

Why are they so immature?

Rachel groans, as she stuffs her face in the pillow.

Due to the fact that it was now summer, Puck and Finn were always hanging out with their girls. And that meant only them and their girls. What happened to the Three Amigos?

She's barely hung out with them, nevertheless talk to them. Every time she barges into either Finn or Pucks house, which _used_ to be a normal routine, they're always just chilling and playing their video games and talking about "guy stuff". Also known as, stuff she "isn't allowed to hear".

Last time, she just rolled her eyes and left. But not today.

Today, she was sick of it.

-:-

_Rachel runs through the front door of the Hudson-Hummel house and up the stairs, but not before saying hello to Mrs. Hummel. _

"_Hello, Mrs. Hummel!"_

_She hears Carole say hello back as she pounces up the stairs, two steps at a time. She has exciting news for Puck and Finn. She just found out herself, and she has to tell them first. After all, they _are _best friends. She had been persuaded by Finn to try out for the summer musical because he knew how much it would mean to her; even Puck had thought that it would be cool for her. She was going to be in Grease._

_As Sandy._

_The lead role._

_Puck and Finn were all for it, because in their words, "Sandy is effing hot. Plus, there are cars."_

_But before she opens the door to Finn's room. She hears hushed whispers._

_When she opens the door unannounced, she sees Finn and Puck talking, the TV speakers loudly playing the video game's soundtrack._

"_What are you guys talking about?" She asked breathlessly, catching her breath for air, as she had been running up the stairs._

"_Guy stuff," Puck says offhandedly._

_Usually, she would have shrugged it off, but today, it stung a little._

"_Oh. Tell me then."_

"_Rachel, you wouldn't understand. You're not a guy." Finn says._

_Rachel's eyes narrow and she flips both of them off before rushing out of the room._

_As she moves toward the stairway, she passes by Kurt's open door._

"_Rachel!"_

_But this was not Finn's voice. This voice was higher, and had a musical tone to it._

_Kurt._

_Kurt used to bother her, because he would always make comments about her fashion and she flipped him off, telling him to not be so much of a girl._

"_What do you want, Kurt?" She says sharply._

_Kurt looks taken aback by her tone, but continues._

"_If you ever need anything just let me know." He goes back into his room, and closes the door._

_As Rachel walks back to her house, she wonders what he meant by that._

-:-

six:

_So over the summer something changed_

_I started reading "Seventeen" and shaving my legs_

_And I studied "Lolita" religiously_

-:-

She still does ballet. It's weird. Like how, when she first started when she was twelve, she hated it, but then puberty happened.

And she knows that Finn and Puck wouldn't understand, but who would? She didn't have a mother to talk to, and talking to Carole about it would just be awkward. Her dads had no idea what to do, and just freaked out.

So Rachel turned to her ballet classmates. And they actually aren't that bad. She still is annoyed at them for being so obsessed with their magazines and now, three years after she started ballet, she feels like she's finally made some friends that she can talk to about her female stuff.

She loves Finn and Puck, but they just don't get it. Plus, it doesn't help that she hasn't seen them since the beginning of the summer. Partially because she had Grease rehearsals, but mostly because she was avoiding them.

She realizes that maybe she was wrong about Quinn and Brittany and Santana. Well, mostly Quinn and Brittany, Santana is and always will be a huge pain. But, she's alright with that, because underneath the hard exterior, Santana is a fierce friend that has always got her back.

It started out with a simple conversation. Rachel had forgotten a ponytail holder, and Quinn lent one to her.

Then, Finn didn't pick her up from class, even though he had gotten his license (because he was hanging out with _Hilary_), and Brittany offered her a ride home.

Lastly, she went to go get a new leotard because apparently according to Ms. Semaine, "Ballerinas were not supposed to have army green leotards because at _this_ dance establishment, we strictly enforce wearing _black_ leotards." Where she bumped into Santana, and they hung out, and that was when Rachel realized that the unholy trinity weren't half as bad as she thought they were.

It was when they found out that she liked Finn that everything changed.

Quinn was in shock, Brittany had no idea what was happening, and Santana just smirked at Rachel.

"We are going to make you his dream girl," Santana said, slinking toward Rachel.

"I just-I just want to forget him. I want to get over him." She said, looking at the ground.

"I think we can arrange that."

It started with her shaving her legs. Quinn had claimed that she was so jealous of Rachel's legs, while she looked at them in envy.

Then, it had been the makeup. They wanted to teach her how to do blush and the whole shebang, but Rachel refused. She had to make _some_ boundaries. So, Brittany had resolved into just teaching her the basics of mascara and eyeliner.

Lastly was the clothing. She had no idea what to wear. She thought that the way that they dressed was not _her._

But who would she ask for help?

Suddenly it came to her.

She had worked with him on the production of Grease because he had been the costume designer.

She dialled the number that he had programmed into her phone.

After three rings, a voice answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Kurt? It's Rachel; you know how you said that you would always help me with something? I need your help?"

"I'm on my way."

-:-

To Santana, Kurt had always seemed too weird to hang out with her. Initially, when the doorbell had rung a few minutes after Rachel had gotten off the phone, Santana had thought it was the pizza delivery guy.

To her surprise, it was Kurt.

She had bullied him, teased him, basically made his life intolerable, yet he was at her house. For Rachel. Heck, she knew Kurt hated her, but he was facing her, his tormentor for a friend. And for that, Santana had to admit to herself that Kurt was brave. She knew that he and Rachel weren't close, but she figured that he couldn't be half bad if he was doing all of this for her.

She watches as he chooses out outfits for Rachel and shows her pictures from a magazine. And by the end, when Rachel was done with her makeover, Santana showed Kurt the door.

But before he left, she slipped a piece of paper in his hands and pushed him out the door.

If she had looked through the window, she would have seen Kurt unfurl the paper and read it, before slipping it into his pocket and walking away with a smile.

But Santana didn't need to see that, all she needed to know was what she had written on the paper. It was one word. Sorry.

-:-

By the time Rachel had made it back to her house, she was exhausted from the extreme makeover. But as she looked into the mirror at her reflection, things felt different. For once in her life, she didn't feel like a guy.

Her heart panged as she realized something.

She was no longer one of the boys.

She was now one of the _girls._

-:-

seven:

_And I walked right into school and caught you staring at me_

_'Cause I know what you know_

_But now you're gonna have to take a number_

-:-

It's her first day of junior year. Since the summer, everything has changed. She hasn't seen Finn in a while, but she has new friends. Friends that don't ditch her when romance enter their lives. She admits that she misses Finn, but it seems obvious to her that Finn and Puck just don't care.

She's wearing clothing that she never would have thought that she would wear. She's wearing a sundress with low sandal heels, and her hair is down. Never in her life has she actually worn a dress unless it was for the sports banquet, but she actually likes it. She feels free.

Brittany drove them to school today. Last year, she and Puck had this ongoing joke about how the unholy trinity seemed to have a carpool schedule and they had always made bets on who would drive the next day.

She thinks that it's ironic because now she's part of the routine. She knows that they _do_ have schedule, and now, every Thursday and fourth Friday, it's her turn to drive.

They pull up in the parking lot. She can see Finn, Hilary, Puck, and Puck's girlfriend of the week get out of Finn's truck and walk over to the pack of guys that are waving to them in front of the school.

It's weird. Last year, Rachel would have been right with them, and even tackle one of the guys in the pack.

She gets out of Brittany's convertible, and steps onto the pavement, grabbing her book bag and waiting for the others to get out of the car.

It's weird to be part of a new group, but she kinda likes it.

-:-

Hilary's getting on his nerves. They've been dating since freshman year, and he has to admit, Hilary isn't the best girlfriend in the world.

He really only started to hang out with her a lot this summer actually. But that was only because Rachel was always off somewhere. He hasn't seen Rachel since June actually. But after one visit to his house, she just disappeared.

He misses her, and even when Hilary forces her way under his arm, his thoughts of her do not escape his mind.

As he walks over to the guys, Puck by his side, Hilary under his arm, he feels like something is missing.

When he finally reaches them, he high fives each person in the group and greets them.

"Hey, Hudson, where's Berry." A voice shouts out.

Finn looks at the group with a curious expression on his face.

"Wait. You mean you haven't seen her either?" He asks the group. He had thought that Rachel was just hanging out with the guys. It was as if she slipped off the face of the earth.

"Babe alert." Sam says under his breath, nudging Puck and Finn.

Usually if Rachel was here, she would roll her eyes and pull him and Puck inside. _Why do I keep thinking about Rachel?_ _It has to be because I haven't seen her in so long. Maybe she went on vacation, but then again, I saw Mr. Berry working in their front yard._

He and Puck simultaneously look over into the direction where Sam is looking.

He sees Quinn, Brittany, Santana, and some pretty girl that he's never seen before. He kind of feels bad for the girl because now she has the unfortunate opportunity to be part of the unholy trinity.

If Rachel was here, she would have made fun of them and made a bet with Puck.

_Stop thinking about her, Hudson. You have Hilary._ He looks down at his girlfriend, hanging under his arm, looking at her nails with a bored expression. Then just as he's about to go into the school, Puck elbows him in the side.

"That's _Rachel_." Puck says, his eyes wide.

"Really?! Where?!" Finn asks eagerly, looking around the mounds of students in front of the school for his best friend. he's trying to pick out a familiar brown ponytail as well as her signature sweat pants.

"No, dude, _that's_ Rachel." He says, and points toward the pretty girl that he saw walking in with Santana.

That can't be Rachel. Rachel would never wear a _dress._ Rachel's one of the guys, the Third Amigo, not a member of the Unholy Trinity.

But when the pretty brunette turns around, and he spots the freckle under her eye, he knows.

That's Rachel.

And suddenly, she doesn't seem like one of the guys anymore.

-:-

When Rachel enters homeroom, sits down, and saves a seat for Quinn, she can tell that people don't recognize her.

She doesn't recognize herself either, but she likes it. To her, she didn't change herself, she evolved herself. The old Rachel is still there, and the new Rachel is there as well. For once in her life, she feels like herself.

She saw that Finn was looking at her when she entered the school, but she isn't sure if he recognized her.

It's fine, she tells herself, she doesn't really like him that much anymore. He's part of her past. This is her _future._

She feels someone slip into the seat beside her. She knows that it isn't Finn. Finn smells like body spray, deodorant, and shampoo.

This person smells like chapstick and lemons. _Sam._

She looks toward the door where Quinn enters, giving her a questionable look.

She looks at her seatmate.

Sam is grinning at her, his thin lips curving into a huge smile.

"What's up, good looking? I've never seen you here before." he flirts.

"Oh, Evans, of course you have." She gets up and moves into the seat beside Quinn.

Before Sam can say anything more, the teacher walks in and introduces themselves, silencing any words that could have come out of Sam's mouth.

But she knows. She just knows, that Sam knows.

-:-

By the time lunch comes around, she's starving. She knows that some of her old friends recognize her, but she also knows that a good amount doesn't. After all, they've hit on her.

She's waiting for either Santana or Brittany, because Quinn doesn't have lunch right now.

They're in the process of trying to convince her to join the cheerleading squad, because according to Quinn and Santana, "she'll have a good advantage from all the ballet and sport teams that she's a part of". She honestly doesn't really care, but soccer season isn't on right now, and volleyball doesn't start yet, so she's dying to do something sporty.

Even if it means walking around school in a super short skirt.

_Clang. _

Somebody slides against the locker beside hers.

She turns her head to Sam looking at her curiously.

"Berry?!" He says questioningly.

"What do you want, Evans?" she says, frustrated.

"Nothing. Just a quick little chat."

"Go ahead."

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to go to the summer carnival with me on Friday."

The summer carnival was an annual event that had everything that would make your summer amazing. They deep fried any food ever imagined, had midway games and a Ferris wheel.

Every year, Rachel would go with the guys and go to the deep fried Oreo booth before jumping in the bumper cars. Lastly, it was a tradition for each of the Three Amigos to dare one another to go on the Ferris wheel with a random person near the wheel.

Puck always got stuck with the elderly ladies, Finn with a screaming child, and Rachel with a human Barbie doll.

"What do you mean by that, Evans? I've gone with you guys since I was _ten_ and old enough to go alone. I wasn't really planning in going with the guys anyway this year."

"Well, actually, I was thinking more along the lines of me and you. Besides, all the other guys are going with some girl, and you should know best of all how annoying it is to be stuck with Karofsky and Azimio." Sam points out.

"A date. With me? Why?!" She asks incredulously.

"Well, you know, Rachel, I've kind of liked you for a while now. So, maybe you could just give me one date, and I'll convince you that I'm better than Hudson."

"Why mention Finn?!"

"Rachel, everybody but Finn knows, because he's too blind to see it. Just give me a chance."

"Okay." She sighs. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Santana walking toward her.

She kisses Sam's cheek quickly before catching up with her.

-:-

He's not a liar. He's not lying to Rachel. It's true. He likes Rachel. It's just that Rachel always seemed to like Finn. And Finn always seemed to like Rachel.

He used to be jealous of Finn because Finn got to spend so much time with Rachel.

The only reason why he picked on Rachel so much when they were younger was because he didn't want people to find out.

When he had seen her this morning, he was so happy. One, she ignored Finn, her _best friend_. Two, he knew he had a chance with her _because she ignored Finn_. That _never_ happened.

This was his chance. In that moment, he didn't even care what Finn would say.

He only thought about getting the girl. Getting _his_ girl.

-:-

Finn can't believe how Rachel looks now. She did a full body makeover during the summer. He can barely recognize her.

But he knows that underneath all the new clothing is _his _Rachel.

He enters the cafeteria during Lunch. He sees Hilary sitting with her friends at the jock table, but on the other side of the cafeteria, where the cheerleader table is, he sees Rachel.

The sun is shining from the window and making hair glow. She looks _pretty_. He has to shake these feelings off. Besides, he should be pissed at her. She ignored him the _entire_ summer.

But when he sees Sam go past the jock table and sit beside Rachel, his heart clenches and he isn't really sure _why_.

Screw it. If she's ignoring him, he'll do the same to her.

-:-

Afterschool, Quinn dragged Rachel into Ms. Sylvester's office. The instant Rachel steps into the office, she hears a sharp voice.

"You're in. Fabray will supply you with the uniform. Now get the _hell_ out of my office."

As she scurries away from the office, Quinn behind her, she says, "That was quick."

"That's good, don't worry." Quinn replies smoothly.

And by the next day, it's official.

Rachel Berry is a cheerleader.

Rachel Berry is part of the unholy Trinity.

And Rachel Berry is one of the girls.

-:-

eight:

_Just give me a chance to prove to you tonight_

_That I just wanna be your homecoming queen_

_Pin-up poster dream  
Not one of the boys_

-:-

She feels like it's showing a lot. I mean, it's kind of short.

Rachel observes her dress in her full length mirror.

When she first saw it in the front window of Macys, she was uncertain, but now, seeing the dress on her once again, she is sure.

This dress is perfect for her.

It's strapless with a sparkly silver top and a flowing blue skirt that shows off her legs.

Sam will love it.

_But will Finn like it?_ _Stop. You have Sam. He's the perfect boyfriend. You've been dating for two months, and it's been amazing. You guys were even nominated for homecoming court. _

And that was true, for once in her life, Rachel was a homecoming princess. She was in the running to be homecoming queen, and even though she didn't really care about it as much as Quinn did, she was still glad to be nominated.

Did she care that Finn was also nominated for court with Hilary? Maybe. But she had Sam.

She hears a doorbell ring downstairs.

She looks out of the window to see Sam at her front steps.

-:-

He's getting ready for the homecoming dance. He had a football game right before the dance, and he couldn't see her face in the bleachers. Back when they were friends, she would always be in the bleachers.

Even now, she still goes but it isn't the same. Because she's here for _Sam._ he doesn't really talk to Sam that much anymore. Heck, he doesn't even talk to Rachel anymore.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't miss her.

He couldn't even believe it when she was nominated for Homecoming court. She's never been _that_ girl. The girl who would even be queen. It doesn't really matter anyways, he knows Rachel. And, he knows how the voting works.

Rachel's not going to win. It will probably be Quinn. After all, she _is _head cheerleader.

_But, Rachel's a cheerleader too. _His thoughts are in an argument with each other. One half sees Rachel as his best friends, but the other side, he can't put a finger on it, but it's almost as if he _likes _her.

He sees Sam's truck pull up to Rachel's house. Glancing out of the window, he sees Rachel come out of the house and go into the car.

It was only a glimpse of her, but he can already tell that she looks beautiful.

-:-

She's been dancing the night away. She's danced with almost everyone. There was a point in the night where she bumped into someone and they both turned around and she came face to face with Puck. She had to admit, it was really awkward. But Puck, being Puck, grinned at her and she smiled, hugged him, and went back to dancing with Sam.

It's almost time for the results of the voting anyways. How does she know? Because, every five minutes, Quinn comes straight to her and jumps excitedly, screaming about how bad she wants to win.

Rachel wonders, sometimes, why she is even best friends with the unholy trinity, but then, she remembers.

Because they always had her back.

"Okay, party people. It is time to announce the results for the Homecoming King and Queen." Principal Figgins announces, "Can I please have the candidates come up and stand on the stage?"

Rachel and Quinn follow the other two candidates for Homecoming Queen onto the stage. Across the stage, she can see Sam grinning at her. She smiles back, but she notices Finn, behind Sam.

For old time's sake, she smiles at him too.

-:-

She smiles at him. It kind of makes him go fuzzy inside.

_No. Look at Hilary._

He sees his girlfriend wearing a revealing hot pink dress and he thinks about how much classier Rachel is compared to Hilary.

He's making a list in his head about both of the girls, but no matter how hard he tries, he realises that Rachel will _always_ win.

And she does.

He watches as she steps forward to accept her crown as Homecoming Queen.

But when his name is announced as Homecoming King, the only thing he sees is her surprised face, as he steps beside her.

He doesn't even care that he can feel Hilary glaring daggers at his back as he leads Rachel onto the dance floor.

This is his moment with Rachel. This is _their_ moment.

-:-

She feels special. She feels beautiful. Even though it isn't Sam with her on the dance floor, she feels fine. She's with Finn, and even though Finn will probably forget about this moment tomorrow, this means the _world_ to her.

She looks over Finn's shoulder to see Quinn smirking at her.

The look on Quinn's face is obvious.

Quinn rigged the vote.

She watches as Quinn mouths something to her.

_Prom Queen is mine. _She giggles to herself.

She loves her friends.

-:-

nine:

_It's OK_

_Maybe one day_

-:-

It's hot. She's been dating Sam since the beginning of the year. School's almost out, and cheerleading practice is getting more intense with Nationals coming up.

Rachel had barely had any time to herself, nevertheless make amends with Finn.

She hasn't really talked to him at all. Well, unless you could count the time she asked him for a pencil. She really misses him.

She loves Quinn and Santana but she feels like there's something missing.

There's a hole in her heart that's shaped like Puck and Finn.

She looks out of the window to her room to see Puck and Finn playing Xbox in the Hudson Hummel living room.

Going through the pantry in her kitchen, she finds a package of Lays potato chips.

Perfect.

She collects her nerves and rings the doorbell. It's not every day you make up with your best friends.

-:-

He's listening to Puck trash talk Hilary.

Or should he say _Hoe_lary.

But he's pretty much over her, maybe he was never really that into her.

Maybe he was too focused on someone else.

He hears a doorbell ring when he's in the middle of a XBOX game.

"Mom! Are you getting it!" he shouts, hoping his mother can hear him.

He swears, remembering that his mom is out getting groceries.

He pauses the game. As Puck groans, he falls backward on the ground and flips Finn the finger.

He trudges along to the front door to see a face that he hasn't talked to in ages. A face that he's been thinking about ever since he broke up with Hilary.

_Rachel. _

-:-

They laugh a lot. She's really missed this They seem to forgive her easily, and it feels like only minutes have passed by since they had last hung out.

By the time she has to leave, because she's going on a date with Sam, Finn speaks up.

"Hey Rach."

She turns around at the sound of his voice. She stands at his front step and replies.

"What's up? I have to go soon."

-:-

She has to go. But he really needs to tell her. He can't keep it in. He's been _feeling_ things. Things for her. Problem is, she's got Sam.

He shouldn't tell her, right?

-:-

She likes him. Still. Even after this long break in their friendship, but she has Sam.

But when he stutters out the fact that he likes her, she is elated.

But she can't do this to Sam. Sam deserves better.

She loves Sam. Right?

So when Finn leans in to kiss her. She pushes him away.

"I can't Finn. But maybe one day."

She doesn't know when or where, but one thing's for certain, she knows that it will happen.

-:-

_ten:_

_I wanna be a flower_

_Not a dirty weed_

_I wanna smell like roses  
Not a baseball team_

-:-

The words that come out her mouth are rehearsed.

She's shouting at the top of her lungs, doing flips and splits and all the other stuff that cheerleaders do.

She watches as her boyfriend takes the ball and runs across the field with it.

She misses playing sports. I mean, she has cheerleading and soccer, but those aren't enough to satisfy her athletic needs.

But one thing is for sure, she hates playing football. When she was younger Finn and Puck would always tackle her when she had the ball.

And two heavy guys jumping on top of her doesn't feel too great sometimes.

Plus, Sam wants her to play the role of "supportive girlfriend".

Honestly, things with Sam aren't as great as before. She feels as if she's drifting apart from him.

But where is she drifting too?

She watches as Sam fist bumps the guy beside him.

The guy is tall, lanky and her best friend.

It's weird. After that day that she stopped by Finn's house to play XBOX, her friendship with him was immediately repaired.

He's seen her through all her fights with Sam and she really feels different.

Before, it was just a silly crush, but it's like she's _falling in love_ with him.

But that isn't right. She should be in love with Sam, not Finn.

Plus, even though Finn and Hilary are long over and they could have kissed, she _loves_ Sam right?

So why does it feel so wrong when she's running to give Sam a victory kiss at the end of the game?

-:-

_eleven: _

_And I swear maybe one day you're gonna_

_Wanna make out, make out, make out with me_

-:-

He feels kind of like a creeper.

Like, he's watching Rachel run to Sam

He realized the night that he and Rachel made up that he _really_ likes her. Like maybe _loves_ her.

And that's heavy.

He's never loved anyone but his mom before.

But this is different. He can feel it.

He watches as Rachel start yelling at Sam.

-:-

She's running toward Sam.

But she stops.

Hilary is there.

She's _practically_ making out with him.

Well, maybe a peck on the cheek isn't making out, but that's her boyfriend.

And he isn't even doing anything.

She starts an argument.

She really isn't sure what it's about, but one thing's for sure, at the end of this argument, she'll be single.

-:-

And she was right. When she's crying her heart out to Finn, and he's comforting her. Things just seem right.

And when she leans in, and pecks him on the lips, and he reciprocates, everything seems fine.

-:-

Twelve:

_(Don't wanna be) don't wanna be_

_(Don't wanna be) don't wanna be_

_(Don't wanna be)_

_And not one of the boys_

-:-

Once they break apart, she looks into his eyes.

Her dreams have just become true, she's finally with her dream guy, even if it took a while to get there.

"Am I still just one of the boys to you, Finn?"

He shakes his head. She smiles at him.

"Good, because I don't want to be."

Then, he speaks up.

"You were never one of the boys. You were always just my girl."

And with that she jumps into his arms, hugging him like there's no tomorrow.

Because it doesn't matter if she's one of the guys or one of the girls, Rachel Berry is Finn Hudson's girl.

She's his.

And he is hers.

And nothing else really matters.

_la fin_

**A/N2: thanks for reading. It would mean the world to me if you reviewed. I'd really like to hear from you guys. Talk to me on tumblr my ask box is always hungry for questions.**

**www. finnyslea . tumblr. com (remove the spaces)**


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